The constituents of Withania somnifera / by Frederick B. Power and Arthur H. Salway.

  • Power, Frederick B. (Frederick Belding), 1853-1927.
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The constituents of Withania somnifera / by Frederick B. Power and Arthur H. Salway. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    matter, a sugar yielding rf-phenylglucosazone (m. p. 205°), and a considerable quantity of potassium nitrate. The portion of the extract which was insoluble in water consisted chiefly of resinous material, and was obtained in the form of a dark green powder. This resin was found to contain a number of substances which had also been isolated from the root of the plant, such as hentriacontane, a phytosterol, C27H4fi O (m. p. 133°), a mixture of fatty acids, and ipuranol. In addition to these, how- ever, it yielded the following compounds: a new' monohydric alcohol, somnirol, C^H^Og'OH, decomposing at 205° and having [a]D +34 8°; a new dihydric alcohol, somnitol, C^H^O^OH)^ decomposing at about 250°, and having [a]D + 2P2°; and an acidic, hydrolytic product, withanic acid, C.>9lI(-0f,*C02H (m. p. 226°>, the methyl ester of which decomposed at 255°. Inasmuch as the T1 ithania somnifera, unlike some other solana- ceous plants, had been found to contain no mydriatic alkaloid, it was deemed of interest to ascertain whether the sedative or hypnotic properties attributed to it could be confirmed. For this purpose, some tests were kindly conducted for us at the Wellcome Physiological Research Laboratories by Drs. H. H. Dale and P. P. Laidlaw’, to whom our thanks are due. It was thus ascer- tained that alcoholic extracts,-representing about 7 grams of the root and 3 grams of the leaves and stems respectively, when administered to a dog had no perceptible effect. The hypodermic injection of the alkaloidal principle obtained from the root likewise produced in a dog no symptom of narcosis or other definite result. The Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories London, E.C. R. r|,w AND SONS, DTD. BREAD ST. Ill Li. K.C., AND BUNGAY SUFFOLK.